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T O P I C R E V I E W

User997

Anyone have the history of the White Room that is on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere? (What pad it came off, what period it was used, etc.)

quantumleap

I don't know the exact history, but the White Room at the Cosmosphere is mentioned in this article I found.

John Youskauskas

Don't know much about its' history, but I got to see it there last summer and found that Guenter Wendt had signed his name above the opening to where the CM would be. I wondered how many visitors noticed or even knew who he was.

STEVE SMITH

When the campaign was going to save the LUT, there was an article in Florida Today that said what flights the White Room a the Cosmosphere were used. It included Apollo 8 and 11, and other Apollo and Skylab flights.

The Cosmosphere doesn't feel that there is sufficient documentation to say which specific flights the Cosmsophere White Room was on. I sure wish we could pin it down.

I guide tours for Boy and Girl Scouts on their Merit Badge Programs. We always gather in the White Room and I explain what happened here, and that this was the last place where the astronauts stood on earth. I demonstrate how they swung into to the capsule, assisted by others. I tell some stories about Guenter (who I've had the privilege to meet several times - what a treasure. Read his book if you haven't), and point out his autograph as "Pad Leader". I relay the respect the astronauts have for him and his no nonsense approach. I use the story of this "unknown" as an example of teamwork, and how the whole space exploration is a team of many indispensable parts, not just the astronauts. I note there is plenty of room for all.

I end by pointing to Sam or Sue and telling them that "probably" Neil Armstrong, or Jim Lovell or Pete Conrad stood just where you are before leaving earth... you should see their eyes, and their jaws drop. My favorite reaction from a Girl Scout - a simple but awe inspired "cool."

Ken Havekotte

Can someone show a photo of the Kansas Cosmosphere's White Room? There were only three that were used on the LUTs at Complex 39 and only one from Complex 34 that sits in a junkyard not too far from where I live that I was involved with.

The White Room that was attached to LUT-1 is currently on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as it has been for many years. It was used for Apollo 4, 8, 11, all manned Skylabs, and ASTP.

There is another LUT/White Room, in storage, here at Kennedy Space Center.

I would think another, a third, LUT/White Room is the one being referred to on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere. Is this correct?

Besides the LUTs, of course, there were White Room (WR) compartments used for Project Mercury (2) and Project Gemini (1).

The Gemini/White Room, that was atop Complex 19's erector gantry, recently completed a full renovation that is now residing at the Cape-side Air Force Space Museum.

Complex 5's original White Room that was used by America's first man-in-space shots was acquired by a scrap company not too far from here in the early 1970s. I am guessing that the same fate of Pad 14's Mercury-Atlas White Room was destroyed or scrapped as well (I think in 1976 without rechecking).

That should only leave four White Rooms intact that American astronauts utilized during NASA's Golden Age or era of Manned Spaceflight! Any other comments?

Robert Pearlman

This is not the best picture, but here is a shot of the white room I took during my first trip to the Cosmosphere:

Rick Boos

When I worked on Tom Hanks' "Earth To The Moon" project, they brought in one of the used white rooms that had been sitting in the boneyard at the Cape. It was in poor condition, the paint was chalky white, hoses dangling, in general rough condition. They repainted it and attached it to the fake swing arm that was used in the Apollo 13 movie and used it in the filming of the Apollo 1 fire episode. Where it went after the filming I have know idea. BUT, I was told it was the white room that was at the boneyard at the Cape with the dismantled LUT. Also, don't forget, there were two white rooms for pad #34. The small swing arm white room, and the gantry white room.

Robert Pearlman

quote:Originally posted by Ken Havekotte:The White Room that was attached to LUT-1 is currently on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex as it has been for many years.

According to a recent post at NASASpaceflight.com, the white room on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is no longer the one that was attached to LUT-1.

The WR on display in the KSC Visitors Center Rocket Garden is indeed from Pad 37 and was never used to fly any crew. It is attached to Service Arm #9 from LUT #1 -- which was the last thing both Armstrong & Aldrin walked down before then walking on the moon. I believe it was switched out after the Lunar program finished because of its historical significance. I *think* it was replaced with the WR from LC-34 because that had been used to fly Saturn-1B's previously.

The Apollo 11-used white room is on display at the Kansas Cosmosphere, as pictured earlier in this thread.

Ken Havekotte

Most interesting and still, to me after so many years, more confusion as ever! Charlie Bell's acquired white room that he purchased from the government was from Pad 34 in 1973. It was used by many early Apollo crews, including Apollos 1 and 7, as he reported long ago. That particular white room, at one time, was going to be restored privately by myself and others -- however -- that was not to be (and such is another story). To the best of my knowledge, it still resides in a junkyard nearby by home.

In regards to the "other" white room units from the LUTs, let me continue to research the topic even further as there are possibly some new sources that hopefully will be able to shed more light on their history and recent locations.

robsouth

I've walked down that walkway and when I did there was an announcement saying something like, "You are following in the footsteps of the men that went to the moon", or something along those lines.

The white room display at Cosmosphere was a top LUT-1 "milkstool" and has used only for Skylab and ASTP mission. It was numbered "4" on this face.

This room was switched from LUT-2 Apollo after Apollo 12 mission. The original white room LUT 1 Apollo has be out after Apollo 11, stored and maybe displayed at Kennedy Space Center in 1977.

The original white room has been manufactured for Pad 34 and LUT Apollo 1 and 2. The first "design" was used for Apollo 1, Apollo 500F operation, Apollo 4 and 6 before to be modified or scrapped. The second design used a new hood on platform extension and safety update (camera, fan).

This white room was used for Apollo 7 at Pad 34 and numbered "2" on this face.

The white room used for Apollo 8 and 11 was numbered "3," the white room used for Apollo 9, 12 and 14 was numbered "4" and the white room used for Apollo 10, 13, 15, 16 and 17 was numbered "5."

From Apollo 12 and 13, a canister is added on the white room back to protect the extensible platform when it not extended.

The white room at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex doesn't have this canister, while the white room at Cosmosphere has it.

I don't think that any white room had been manufactured for Pad 37.

Jim McDade has seen a white room in the woods in Huntsville, maybe that white room was used for Pad 34, maybe it is white room "2."

Missing is the location of the third white room (#5 LUT-3).

wickball

Could somebody here do me a favor and put all of this into a chart-type format to make it easier to follow. I find this subject very interesting but very confusing at the same time.

dtemple

The WR on display in the KSC Visitors Center Rocket Garden is indeed from Pad 37 and was never used to fly any crew.

I looked at photos of Saturn I rockets on Pad 37B and there is no white room attached to the gantry. The mobile service structure was used to enclose the rocket so there was no white room on it either. Evidently the plaque is incorrect.

Atlantis

I believe the white room that Jim McDade saw has been restored and is now on display in the Davidson Center. I saw it while driving past it tonight.

jasonelam

quote:Originally posted by capcomespace:The white room used for Apollo 8 and 11 was numbered "3," the white room used for Apollo 9, 12 and 14 was numbered "4" and the white room used for Apollo 10, 13, 15, 16 and 17 was numbered "5."

Why were there different white rooms for different missions? Seems interesting that different ones where used on some flights vs others.

mikej

quote:Originally posted by Atlantis:I believe the white room that Jim McDade saw has been restored and is now on display in the Davidson Center. I saw it while driving past it tonight.

Yes, the work crew was finishing up the white room's installation when I was there on Friday and Saturday (July 2 and 3).

I'll second that. The home page has a very creative navigation interface.

LM-12

quote:Originally posted by jasonelam:Why were there different white rooms for different missions?

Because there were three different Mobile Launchers.

ML-1 / white room 3 - Apollo 8, 11

ML-2 / white room 4 - Apollo 9, 12, 14

ML-3 / white room 5 - Apollo 10, 13, 15, 16, 17

LM-12

You can see White Room #4 on the ground in this photo taken during the disassembly of ML-1 in 1983.

As mentioned earlier, White Room #4 was removed from ML-2 after Apollo 14. It was then placed on ML-1 for Skylab 2, 3, 4 and ASTP.

Ironman One

It would be nice to see it restored and placed in the Saturn V Center.

alanh_7

This has no bearing on what white room was used for which flight, but when I was at the KSC two weeks ago they had the area around the white room closed. The white room was still there but the sign said 'under renovation". Whether that means they are painting or restoring the white room or working on the area around it I do not know.

p51

There's a swing arm and I think a white room at JSC, right outside the Saturn V building. The tours never let you go see it, what's the history behind that one?